Education groups welcome school admission proposals

Admission Bill will transfer appeals process back to schools

The Department of Education published details of the new scheme yesterday

Plans to eradicate school waiting lists and booking deposits for school places have been broadly welcomed by education and parents’ groups.

The proposed Admission To Schools Bill would also make it more difficult for schools to discriminate on the grounds of limited resources in cases where children have special learning needs.

“For too long, young people with special educational needs have been deprived of the opportunity to attend the school of their choice and the proposed legislation should eliminate this discretionary practice,” said Michael Moriarty of Education and Training Boards Ireland.

However, school management organisations have expressed concerns about how the changes might impact on administration. The draft Bill proposes to remove the current system that allows parents to make an appeal to the Department of Education where they are unhappy with a school decision on student admission, known as a section 29 appeal.

The new scheme, details of which were published by the Department of Education yesterday, would transfer the appeals process back to schools.

Religious patronageFerdia Kelly of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents 400 voluntary secondary schools with religious patronage across the country, says his members are not in favour of a “cumbersome” appeals process.

“We don’t want an appeals process that will bog us down in bureaucracy. The section 29 appeal process is working well. There are fewer than 300 appeals lodged each year, out of well over 100,000 admissions, and less than half are successful. This is because most schools’ admission policies, as they currently stand, are working.”

Mr Kelly said it was important not to create false expectations for parents. “In a situation where demand exceeds supply, someone will always be disappointed.”